


A Long Walk of Her Own.

by MagzasaurusRex



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, Emotional Roller Coaster, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Friendship, Multi, Origin Story, Romance, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 00:53:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3790534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagzasaurusRex/pseuds/MagzasaurusRex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They've crossed paths many times but neither of them knew it would end like this.</p><p>The origin story of Talanashta (Talan) Lavellan leading up to her becoming inquisitor and her relationship with a certain Commander.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What's a Templar?

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I have ever written D:  
> I hope people like it D:  
> Sorry if it's horrible D:

It was a beautiful day.

The sun was shining, birds were singing and-

"Talan, can we go back now? It's hot!"

It was hot.

Talanashta stopped. She stood for a moment, curling and uncurling her toes in the grass, trying to keep herself calm but her friend was beginning to get on her last nerve. This always happened, Tavin always wanted to go places with her but all he ever did was complain the whole way there. As much as she did hate his complaining Taven was her only friend, she didn't get along with any of the other children in her clan because she was "different". Talan's mother had never bonded with any of the elves in her clan so it was a shock to everyone when they discovered she was with child and even more of a shock when that child didn't resemble anyone in the clan at all, she barely resembled her mother. Talan was pale-skinned with deep red hair and bright yellow-green eyes while the rest of her clan had light coloured hair, tanned skin and brown or blue eyes. Naturally the differences in appearance sparked a lot of rumors about who her mother had bonded with, many people assumed it was with an elf from an alienage or a passing clan but there were also those who claimed she bonded with a human. The majority of Talan's clan despised humans, the keeper especially, so if Talan hadn't been born with the signature pointed ears and large eyes that belong to elves she probably would've been abandoned in the forest as soon as she was born.

"Talaaaaannnnn!"

"I don't want to go back yet Tavin, I told you, I want to play in the field." Tavin let out a loud groan and trudged along behind Talan as she continued walking towards the large open field by the lake. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, so it _was_ very hot, but Talan loved the sun. She loved how it made everything so bright and beautiful which is why she hated being in the forest where the trees blocked it out and made everything dark and cold. Any chance she got she would be out in full view of the blazing sun, but the heat never bothered her and neither did the cold when she was forced back into the forest.

"It's so hot! Can you at least make it a little colder? Pleeeeaaaseeee!?"

Talan stilled and looked at her hands and then to Tavin, she dropped her hands and stared at the ground. "Mamae told me not to do that anymore, she said it's bad and if Keeper Hawen finds out he'll be mad."

"Please Talan!" Tavin groaned and sprawled out on the grass panting, he looked like the Mabari she had seen laying out in the sun when they were travelling near Redcliffe last week. She wished she could have stayed in Redcliffe, she met a boy there who actually wanted to play so they played together all day and by the end of the day they were both covered head to toe in mud. The boy’s parents had looked so mad, his mother especially, Talan had noticed that he didn't really look like his parents though and she wondered if other kids treated him like she was treated by the kids in her clan, she wondered if he was "different" too.

Another loud groan came from Tavins mouth interrupting Talan's thoughts about the blonde boy from Redcliffe. She sighed and knelt down beside Tavin. "Promise me you won't tell."

"I Promise! Just make it colder!"

"Stop whining and I will!" Tavin quieted as Talan slipped her already cool hands into his, she closed her eyes and gently squeezed his hands and reached out to him with her cold. Talan was only eleven but she couldn't remember a time when she didn't have magic abilities. She had always been good at cold and she could make herself feel better when she was hurt, she could even make fire and sparks but she struggled with those and that's when her mother discovered her powers and told her that they were a bad thing. Talan always wondered why it was such a bad thing that she could use magic; she had seen a few others in her clan who used it so why couldn't she? She asked her mother many times but her mother just insisted that she keep it hidden with no explanation at all. Her fingers tightened around Tavins, she wanted to use her magic to help like she helps Tavin, she knows she can help, it’s not fair! Tavin cried out suddenly and pulled his hands from hers, her eyes darted down to them and she noticed the tips of his fingers were bright red and frosted.

"Tavin! I'm sorry I didn't mean to," she tried to grab at his hands again but he pulled away. "Let me help! I can make it stop hurting!" She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, she hadn't meant to hurt him, she just lost control.

"It's fine, I'm fine, you just startled me is all." He furiously rubbed his hands together trying to bring them some warmth. "It's definitely not hot anymore." He laughed and gave Talan a small smile before offering his hands back to her; she took them and slowly pulled the pain out of his hands.

"Better?"

Tavin turned his hands over inspecting the once again tanned skin "Much. Should we go down to the lake now?"

"I'll race you?"

Both elves took off running through the field towards the lake. Talanashta sped past Tavin with ease, she had always been faster than him and it annoyed him to no end especially when she would rub it in his face, so as per usual when she was well enough ahead she turned around and stuck her tongue out at him and after he returned the gesture she spun back around and collided with something and then she and that something proceeded to fall towards the ground. She landed hard on her shoulder and somehow also managed to skin her knee in the process, she groaned as she pushed herself up off the ground and came face to face with what she ran into. A boy with blonde hair and golden eyes glared back at her, rubbing the back of his head where it had hit the ground, she was about to open her mouth to apologize when she saw another boy running up behind him.

"Cullen! Are you alright? I saw the whole thing are- Woah! What happened to that girls ears!" Talan quickly tried to hide her ears under her hair but bits and pieces had been tied up into small twists and braids so she resorted to just covering them with her hands. She was used to people looking at her strangely because of her long pointed ears but she had never heard anyone say anything about them, she felt ashamed, sad, angry and confused all at the same time. The blonde boy, Cullen as the other boy called him, seemed to notice her discomfort and smacked the other boy hard on the arm.

"Ow! What's that for? I'm telling mom!"

"There's nothing wrong with her ears Branson! She's an elf, it's perfectly normal." Normal. No one had ever looked at her and used the word normal, it was so strange but it made her smile a bit. Cullen stood up and offered a hand to Talan, she took it and he pulled her to her feet with ease. "Sorry about my brother, he's only eight and I don't think he's seen an elf before."

"It's fine, I'm sorry I knocked you over."

"It's fine" They stared at each other for a few moments until Tavin came bounding up beside Talen, creators he was so slow.

"Are you alright Talan? Did he hurt you?" The look on Cullen’s face was shocked and a bit offended, Tavin didn't hate humans like the rest of her clan but he also hadn't been taught to trust them.

"No Tavin, it was my fault I ran into him." She glanced at Cullen but he was glaring at the back of Tavin’s head.

Tavin looked her up and down, his eyes stopping at her knee which was bleeding all down her leg. "Creators Talanashta! Your Mother is going to be so mad."

Talan looked down at her now scarlet shin then back to Taven. "I can fix it... but not here." She muttered quietly.

"Let's go then." Taven turned around and started marching back through the field towards the forest.

Talan turned around to face Cullen and his brother "I have to go now, I'm sorry I ran into you."

"It's fine, we have to go now too, I-"

"Cullen! You're leaving for Templar training soon and you promised you'd play with me before you left!" Branson suddenly cried. Talan frowned. What's a Templar? Cullen sighed and said his goodbyes to Talan before heading towards the dock with his brother. Talan headed back through the field towards the treeline where Tavin was waiting, she sat down on the ground and quickly ran her hands over her knee pulling out the pain and sealing the wound. She glanced back over to the dock by the lake where Cullen and his brother were, she saw Branson give something to him and wondered for a moment what it could be until she was distracted by two men in armor approached the boys. All of a sudden Talan was very warm, she could feel the heat from the sun beating down on her skin and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't make herself cold again.

"Talanashta there you are!" Talan turned to see her mother stepping out of the forest. "Come da'len you shouldn't be away from the clan." Talan’s mother glanced briefly at the dried blood on her leg, let out a huff and pulled a cloth from her pocket wiping away the mess as best she could before pulling Talan up to her feet.

"Mamae?"

"Yes Talanashta?"

"What's a Templar?"

Talan’s mother froze, a look of panic settling in as she looked to her daughter, to the men at the docks and back to Talan before turning sharply to face Tavin. "Go tell the keeper that the clan needs to leave now. Tell him there are Templars coming." Tavin nodded and sprinted into the trees; Talan’s mother grabbed her arm and started leading her in the same direction without another word.

"Mamae? What's wrong?" Talan’s mother didn't stop; she continued to pull her deeper into the forest away from the men at the docks. "Mamae..?" She continued to ignore Talan only moving faster each time Talan opened her mouth. "Mamae!" Talan was scared, why won't she answer me? What’s going on? What did I do? Talan felt sparks fly out of her hand, her mother gasped and dropped her hand. She stared at Talan wide-eyed for a moment before bending down to Talan’s level; she cradled Talan’s face in her hands and looked into her eyes.

"Templars are bad Da'len. Never ever go near them, if they find you they will take you away. They will hurt you." For a moment Talan thought she saw fear in her mother’s eyes, maybe even some tears forming, but she blinked and they were gone and her mother was once again pulling her deeper into the forest. Talan was silent the rest of the way back and when they returned to the clan they didn't stop walking, the rest of the clan was already packed up and ready to go. Talan didn't understand, why would the Templars want her? And if Cullen was going to be a Templar why was he nice to her? There were so many things she didn't understand, she had so many questions, but no matter how many times she asked she was given the same response every single time.

Templars are bad.

 

 


	2. Five Long Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talan reflects on the events that have happened in the past Five years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again if this is horrible D:
> 
> Nothing super duper exciting happens in this chapter, it's mostly just to cover what happens in the five years between this chapter and the first, but it's getting set up for stuff to go down in the next chapter so if anyone actually is reading this just bear with me things will pick up soon I swear D:
> 
> Also totally realized I've been spelling Tavin's name wrong D: whoops. It's fixed now though :D

Talan was sitting on a rocky ledge in the forest working away at a large branch with her knife while singing softly to herself.

_hahren na melana sahlin  
emma ir abelas_

She just barely sat on the edge of the rocks allowing as much of her body to hang out in the open air as possible without falling right over the edge. This ledge was her favourite place in the Brecilian forest because it overlooked a meadow that happened to be the most open part of the forest, the part of the forest where the sun came through the most. The way Talan saw it; it was the most beautiful part of the forest. There were so many vibrant colours among the plants and the trees, Talan hadn’t even thought that so many colours could exist in one place or even in the entire world, you could scour every inch of this part of the forest for a lifetime and you would never find a speck of it that was dully coloured.

_souver'inan isala hamin  
vhenan him dor'felas_

It was also one of the highest points in the forest and none of the other elves bothered to venture all the way up to where she was so this was her place to escape and be alone.

Aneth ara.

The breeze picked up a bit and Talan continued singing, a little louder now, with accompaniment from the rustling leaves in the swaying trees, the tiny chirps from the birds and the rushed sighs from the sparkling stream far below her feet.

_in uthenera na revas_

She paused and breathed in deeply, taking in all of the sensational smells that the forest had to offer and trying to individually appreciate as many as she could before exhaling and continuing her song.

 _vir sulahn'nehn_  
vir dirthera  
vir samahl la numin  
vir lath sa'vunin

As soon as Talan finished she heard the snap of a twig behind her, she shot up off the ledge, whirled around and immediately lost her balance feeling weightless as she began to fall over the edge. A strong force gripped her arm and pulled her away from the all-too-welcoming expanse of open air between the ledge and the ground below and into something warm and solid. She felt the grip on her arm loosen as strong arms moved to encircle her waist and brought her closer against the warmth of the solid form she had been pulled into, she laid the side of her head against it and slowed her heavy breathing allowing herself to hear the sound of a slow, steady heartbeat persuading her own to act the same.

“I’m surprised at you Talanashta,” She glanced up and was met with a pair of large, sea blue eyes. “You never let anyone sneak up on you like this, especially not me.” Tavin chuckled softly lifting a hand to brush Talan’s mussed up hair away from her face and behind her ear, his fingers trailed softly along her jaw as she continued to stare at him, wide-eyed and speechless. “Are you alright? I- I didn’t hurt you did I?”

“I- You- No!” Talan stumbled on her words; although her breathing had slowed she could still feel the adrenaline rushing through her body but she managed to force out a few more words. “You surprised me, that’s all.”

“Come on, let’s sit you down for a bit.” Tavin kept an arm around her waist and led her away from the ledge a bit to a nice grassy spot beneath a tree. He sat her down in the grass, sat behind her and gently eased her back until her head was resting in his lap. She closed her eyes and felt her body relax as he ran his fingers through her long Crimson hair; he moved it all to one side revealing the side of her head she kept closely shaved then his fingers began to weave through the strands of her hair forming a braid to divide the shaved part from the rest of her hair.

Talan opened her eyes and gazed at Tavin as he continued to work his fingers through her hair. He was always taking care of her, always looking out for her, even when they were kids and she would sneak away from the clan to go play in some field. The last place they had ever done that was in the field by the lake outside of Honnleath, and that was five years ago, a lot had changed since then.

After leaving the small forest they lived in near Honnleath keeper Hawen made the decision to move the clan to a space where they would be able to stay for a longer period of time and that’s how they ended up in the Brecilian forest. Shortly after arriving at their new home Talan’s mother disappeared. One night she was there and then the next morning she gone without a trace.

No note.

No word.

Nothing.

The search for Talan’s mother hadn’t lasted long, most of the clan started recirculating the human lover rumours and decided that she probably ran off with another human and didn’t want to bring her bastard child into her new lover’s life. Tavin’s father Sadron ended up looking after Talan, he was one of the few people who had always been kind to them, and now that she was older Talan was pretty certain that he had been in love with her mother.

Sadron’s wife was killed by raiders a few years after Tavin was born and he ended up raising him just fine on his own so he was not daunted by the task of raising Talan as well until she grew into her teens, that was when he started doubting himself, worrying that he was not enough for her. Despite what he thought, Talan thought Sadron was a wonderful father. He taught her how to craft her own weapons, clothes and armor and he helped train her so she could become a hunter when she was older but most of all he made her feel like she belonged and was welcome in the clan even though the majority of the clan felt otherwise.

When Talan did grow into her teens she simply went to the elder women in her clan, they didn’t care much for rumours so they never treated her any different than they would any other member of the clan. They told her about bond mates, love, where babies come from and all of the _wonderful_ things that would happen to her body when she became a woman and not long after Talan did become a woman.

Like most female elves she wasn’t very tall, only about 5 feet and maybe a few inches, but if you were only looking at her long slender legs and torso and not comparing her height to something she seemed so much taller than she actually was. Her skin was the same milky white, despite her spending long hours in the sun and her hair was the same deep red shade but it had grown past her chin and ended just above her waist. The colour of her giant yellow-green eyes was more vibrant since she started lining her eyes, her full lips had been decorated with a just-barely-there deep red tint and her high cheekbones, small nose and pointed chin only enhanced those features even more. As she grew into her body the rumours of her being half human began once again when the other girls noticed her hips were _just a bit_ wider, her breasts were _just a bit_ larger and she had _just a bit_ more curve than the rest of the girls. When the elder women noticed the rest of the teen girls giving Talan a hard time they simply told her she was “blessed with a good child bearing body” and she would be “the desire of all the young men in the clan” and all of the other girls were “jealous”. Talan didn’t really care to be “the desire of all the young men in the clan” the only thing that really tied her to the clan was Tavin.

Tavin had remained her closest and only friend; they had spent nearly every moment together since her mother’s disappearance. Tavin was the one who protected her when she was scared and held her when she cried. He stood by her when the other elves their age ridiculed her and never flinched once even if they turned their words on him. He was the one who would venture deep in to the forest with her so she could practice her magic unseen and it was him who suggested she start keeping that portion of her hair shaved closely after she accidentally burned it off during one of the practice sessions. “So you always have something to remind you of how funny this was.” he had said. “Besides it looks good on you.”

Tavin had grown into his teens when Talanashta did so when she became a woman he became a man. Tavin was tall; probably a whole head taller than her and his body was very slender but incredibly toned. He had grown his sandy blonde hair almost to his chin in parts, but it was cut so choppy and was always mussed up so it was hard to tell how long it actually was. His jaw was so strong and chiseled now, much like the rest of him, it was hard to picture him with the soft round edges he had just five years before. He always smelled smoky like the campfires, Talan always enjoyed breathing in his scent whenever she was near him, she felt safe and warm like she would sitting around the fires in the clans camp. Then there were his eyes, they were the deepest shade of blue she had ever seen, blue like the sea and the way he looked at her with those eyes, the way he was looking at her right now as he stroked her hair.

He _loved_ her.

He had _always_ loved her.

Talan loved him too, but she didn’t think it was the same as how he loved her and it didn’t feel like how the elder women had explained what love was like. They kissed sometimes and held each other but they never went farther than that and Tavin never pushed her to go farther, she knew that deep down he knew their feelings weren’t the same. She wanted him to have someone who loved him the same way he loved her, and as much as she wanted love it wouldn’t have been fair to give him less than he deserved.

“Are you feeling better Talanashta?” Tavin’s soft voice pulled her from her thoughts and back into reality.

“Much better, ma serannas lethallin.” She did feel much better; she was calm, relaxed and close enough to greedily breathe in Tavin’s smoky scent that she adored so much.

“I’m sorry I startled you lethallan I just heard you singing and you have the most beautiful singing voice and I hardly ever get to hear it so I approached you as quietly as I could, I should’ve known you’d be sitting dangerously close to the edge of the rocks as usual.” He shot her his best stern, disapproving look but he could never hide the playfulness in his eyes. “Interesting song choice by the way, a little depressing though.”

“Someone was singing it at the funeral the other day.” She closed her eyes and sighed as Tavin continued stroking her hair. “I’ve had it stuck in my head since then.”

“Had to get it out then?” He chuckled softly then stopped running his fingers through her hair for a moment. “Ir abelas, ma vhenan. I know you were close to her.”

Talan frowned, the woman who died was one of the ones who taught her about becoming a woman, the one she had cared for and appreciated the most. Yes, she was sad but the woman was old and her time had come so she didn’t want to dwell on it. “She was a wonderful person, and she taught me many things.”

“Was she the one who-?”

“Said I was ‘blessed with a good child bearing body’?” Talan opened one eye and peeked at Tavin before closing it again and smiling to herself. “Yes.”

“Creators she made the other girls so mad with those comments.”

“Marilla was probably the closest thing I’ll ever have to a mother.” She sighed deeply, sat up and scooted back so she was sitting between Tavin’s legs and her back was against his chest. He leaned forward, wrapped his arms around her middle and planted a long kiss on her temple before resting his head between her neck and shoulder.

“Do you miss her today? Or is today a hate day?”

“Hate.” Talan was always going back and forth between missing her mother and hating her, but as she’s gotten older the days she hates her mother greatly outweigh the days she misses her. She struggled through a wide range of emotions for a long time. She would be sad because her mother was gone and she missed her, scared because she didn’t know what happened, confused because she didn’t know why, angry when she thought she left her behind and then after a time she was sometimes happy she was gone because she was finally able to get proper answers to all of the questions she had asked her mother that had never been answered.

She had learned from Tavin’s father that the reason she was to keep her magic hidden was because the clan was at its maximum capacity for mages and if any other elves showed magic abilities they would be sent to other clans or left in the forest. The first time she ever scouted with some of the hunters they told her about Templars. They told her that Templars watched over the mages in the circle towers and whenever humans or city elves showed magic abilities they were sent away to the circle and any other person with magical abilities living outside the circle was branded as an Apostate. They told her that the Templars never really sought out the mages in the Dalish clans but they wouldn’t want to run into them because the Templars would haul one off to the circle if they came across one. They also told her about phylacteries, the rite of tranquility, demons, possession and basically everything else her mother kept from her; the more she learned the less she missed her mother.

Tavin cleared his throat “So what were you up to out here anyway?”

“I was carving, and I wanted to be somewhere quiet where I could focus.”

“What were you carving?”

“I was- Fenedhis!” Talan looked over to the ledge where she had been carving out the branch only to see an empty space. She scrambled out of Tavin’s embrace and to the ledge peering over. “Ugh! I must’ve dropped it! We have to go down and look I put so much time into it!” She groaned loudly pulling herself up and stalking towards the steep path leading down into the meadow. Tavin leapt to his feet and started after her.

“Talan wait.” He reached out and grabbed her hand pulling back towards him, spinning her around to face him before taking her face in his hands and touching his lips to hers. He kissed her deeply as she wrapped her arms around his neck and melted into him. She could feel all the love he had for her pouring into her through his kiss and she wanted so badly to give that much in return but she just didn’t have enough. After a few moments he broke the kiss, still cradling her face and rubbing his thumbs across her pronounced cheekbones. “Ir abelas vhenan’ara, I’ve been wanting to do that all day.”

“I think I can forgive you.” She said and she rose up on to her toes to plant a chaste kiss on his lips before grabbing his hand and turning on her heel to lead him down the path to the meadow. Talan couldn’t help feeling sad as they walked hand-in-hand down to the meadow, she wanted nothing more than to truly be in love with someone.

So why couldn’t Tavin be that someone?

In the past five years so many of Talan’s unanswered questions had finally been answered but she knew for sure that she would never get an answer for this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to pick up in the next few chapters I swear D:
> 
> Translation of the song:  
> elder your time is come  
> now I am filled with sorrow  
> weary eyes need resting  
> heart has become grey and slow  
> in waking sleep is freedom
> 
> we sing, rejoice  
> we tell the tales  
> we laugh and cry  
> we love one more day
> 
> Other Translations:  
> Aneth ara - My safe place  
> Ma serannas - Thank-you  
> Ir abelas, ma vhenan - I am filled with sorrow for your loss, my heart.  
> Fenedhis - Curse word.  
> vhenan’ara - Hearts desire.


	3. Why You Shouldn't Carry a Staff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not finishing this chapter sooner, some crazy stuff has been happening with my extended family in the past little while so yeah, priorities.
> 
> I'm going to try and get out at least 2 or 3 chapters a week now that shenanigans have settled down :3
> 
> Also thanks to all the people who have been reading this, and the people who have given kudos ^_^, it means a lot : )

“So what are we looking for anyway?”

“hmm?”

“You never did say.”

“Say what?”

“What.” Talan turned and shot Tavin a frosty glare. “What? You said ‘Say what’ so I did.” Tavin tried, and failed, to stifle a laugh and Talan’s glare only became colder which made Tavin laugh harder. They stood like this for a while, her glaring and him laughing, until Tavin finally gave in. “I asked you what we’re looking for, you never told me.”

“A branch.” Talan said curtly.

“We’re in a forest Talanashta, there are lots of branches.”

Talan rolled her eyes. “The one I was carving before _someone_ decided to sneak up on me and scare the crap out of me making me drop it nearly sending me over the cliff along with it.” She crossed her arms and continued to glare at Tavin. He was starting to get on her nerves which he was well aware of and loving every minute of it.

“I’m starting to think I should’ve saved the branch instead, it would have been more grateful.” Tavin crossed his arms, turned his back to her and put his nose in the air.

“And I’m starting to think I should have gone down with the branch.” Talan waited until she saw Tavin peek at her from the corner of his eye before adding. “Would have been much better company.”

Tavin scrunched up his face and dramatically clutched his chest with his hands. “Oh how you wound me!” Talan smacked him lightly on the arm then pulled him along beside her as she continued searching.

The elves had been scouring the meadow for the branch for an hour which only annoyed Talan that much more about Tavin, just now, asking what they were looking for. The sun was at its highest point in the sky which meant the full force of it covered the entire meadow making it very hot. Since she had not planned on venturing down into the meadow but rather just appreciate it from afar, and close to a shady tree, Talan had been sustaining a cool barrier between her and the suns blazing heat all morning all the while mindlessly casting random spells to amuse herself and by now she had almost completely exhausted her magic. For the past several minutes she had been pushing herself harder and harder to maintain the barrier and it was tiring her out. Her being tired was probably why she was becoming irritated so easily, or it could just be Tavin, he always knew exactly which buttons to push to get under her skin.

The search continued for another hour, mostly spent back-tracking to the places they had already searched when Tavin didn’t know what they were looking for. By that point Talan had given up her barrier and was giving herself up to the full heat of the sun. For once she was thankful that the hunter armor designed for the female elves left her middle exposed and she felt badly for Tavin that his was not. She figured he must be extremely uncomfortable sweating underneath all that leather. She also figured there was a reason why the female’s armor covered less and the male’s covered more; it was probably a stupid and perverted reason, but supposedly a reason nonetheless.

Hundreds of thoughts began swirling into Talan’s head as the sun beat down on her. How long had they been at this? How far from the ledge could the branch have landed? How hard is it for two people to find a large branch in an open meadow? And why did the sun seem permanently fixed in the same spot it’s been in for the last few hours?

“Talan, what were you carving?”

She turned to Tavin who was looking at her with an odd expression that gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Talan closed her eyes and bit her lip. “A staff.” She opened one of her eyes and peeked at him, his expression had changed to one that was slightly disapproving, she opened her other eye and watched him untangle something from a large shrub.

“Then I found it.” He said flatly while examining the partly carved out staff.

“Perfect! Let me see it,” Talan reached out to take the branch but Tavin moved away from her. “Tavin, give me my staff please.”

“What have I told you about this?” His voice was barely a whisper.

Talan groaned. This was a conversation they had, had many times. She tried to take the staff again but Tavin, being much taller than her, simply stretched his arm up to its full length so the staff was out of her reach.

“Tavin! Give. Me. My. Staff.” Talan said beating her tiny fists against his chest, but Tavin didn’t budge. Instead he managed to capture both of her wrists with his free hand to stop her attempts to beat him.

“You’re cute when you try to beat me up, you know that?” Talan stopped struggling to free herself from his grasp and looked up at him. The disapproving expression was gone, replaced by his usual smirk. He pressed his lips to her forehead, sighed deeply and released her wrists to hand her, her staff. “I don’t know why you insist on having one of these, it’s not good to have one and you definitely don’t need one.”

“I need it for focusing.”

“No you don’t.”

“Yes I do, all mages use a staff to focus their powers, it makes them stronger.”

“Your magic is already incredibly powerful and focused, there’s nothing that  _stick_ can do that will add to that.” Tavin placed his hands on her arms and looked straight into her large, yellow-green eyes. “Maybe other mages need one, but you don’t”

Talan pulled away from him and shook her head. “And what makes you think that?”

“Oh come on Talan! Don’t act like you don’t know how powerful you are. You’re definitely a stronger mage than Alya. You and I have both seen her use magic, and she’s pretty strong, but you’re better.” It was true; Talan just didn’t like to admit it.

Alya was the keepers first and she was incredibly skilled when it came to healing, barriers and anything else that fell into the spirit area of magic. Talan’s strength in spirit magic was equal to, if not more than, Alya’s. What made Talan stronger than Alya was the fact that she commanded all of the other areas of magic with just as much skill while Alya, and the few other mages in her clan, specialized in just one specific area.

“Fine, maybe I don’t _need_ one but I would like to have one.” Talan firmly gripped the staff where she had carved out the handle and inspected it for any cracks it might have received on its long fall down into the valley. She carefully weighed the staff in her hands, it was almost perfectly balanced, it only needed a bit more carved off the top and a little extra weight added to the bottom. She was considering adding a blade to the bottom to make the staff more practical for hunting when Tavin interrupted her with the true reason as to why he was so against her carrying around a staff.

“Carrying around a staff is the most foolish thing a mage can do.”

Talan cocked an eyebrow but kept her eyes on her staff. “How so?”

“Seriously?” Tavin gaped at her and she just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, she knew the answer she just liked to see him get riled up. “Strapping a staff to your back is like hanging a sign around your neck that reads ‘Look at me I’m a mage outside of the circle! Come get me Templars I’m an Apostate!’” Tavin waved his arms around wildly as he spoke, he was easily excitable whenever they talked about this particular subject and it was one of the few opportunities where Talan could get under his skin for once and she relished every moment of it.

“What? This?” Talan pointed to the staff with feigned surprise “No, sir. That’s no staff, it’s obviously a spear.”

“Oh Creators! Talanashta, please tell me when was the last time you saw someone use a spear?”

“You’re cute when you get all flustered, you know that?” She laughed and Tavin crossed his arms scowled at her.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying this.” He continued to scowl at her but he uncrossed his arms and motioned for her to hand him the staff. “Give it here and I’ll _show_ you just how obvious you will be.”

Talan rolled her eyes and handed over the staff. “Alya and the other mages carry a staff and yet they’ve never witnessed this fine display.”

“Two things,” With the hand that wasn’t on the staff, Tavin held up a finger. “One, I don’t care about Alya and the other mages like I care about you vhenan.” He held up another finger. “And two, they always stay hidden in the woods and close to the rest of the clan while you wander off to wherever you please all by yourself.”

“Are you going to demonstrate? Or are you going to lecture me about all of the terrible things I do until nightfall?” She folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against a large boulder as she watched Tavin struggle to strap the unfamiliar object to his back.

“Alright now take a good look and tell me what’s strapped to my back.” He stood with his hands on his hips staring at her with a blank expression awaiting her response. “And Creators Talanashta I swear if you say a spear I don’t even know what I’ll do.” She didn’t even need to look at him, but she did, and he was absolutely right about the whole situation.

“A staff.” She mumbled quietly.

“That’s right, a staff!” A stuck up grin appeared on his face making Talan scowl. “And that’s just from me standing with it strapped to my back. What do you think people will think if they see you holding it? Or flailing it around like a wild-woman.” Tavin pulled the staff from his back and started twirling it around, poorly, in his hands.

“Well, we _are_ ‘Wild Dalish Savages’ so I hardly think that flailing around a staff like a ‘wild-woman’ would be out of character for me.” She laughed watching Tavin struggle with twirling the staff and laughed harder when he gave up trying to be fancy and settled for waving the staff around like a banner.

“And what were you planning on doing if Hawen or anyone else in the clan saw you with this?”

“I wasn’t going to walk around camp with it. I was only going to practice with it out here or take it with me when I hunted. No one would have seen me.” Tavin didn’t even respond to that, he just gave her a look of disbelief and even she couldn’t deny that what she had just said was pretty naïve and ridiculous.

“If somebody sees you with this and can’t tell that you’re a mage then there is something seriously wrong with their mind.” Tavin began to strike dynamic poses with the staff which made Talan double over with laughter.

“Tavin, stop!” He continued and it only made her laugh harder so tears started spilling down her cheeks. “Tavin! I- I can’t- breathe,” She managed between deep laughs that shook her whole body. “Please, stop!”

And he did stop.

Everything stopped.

There was no sound in the valley as Talan stared wide-eyed at Tavin’s suddenly stilled form. No sound when the staff fell from his hand to the grassy floor. No sound when she opened her mouth to call out to him. No sound when he dropped to his knees clutching the crimson coloured arrow protruding from his gut.

Talan felt like she wasn’t even in her body, like she was standing outside of a barrier and everything inside was happening silently and in slow motion. She watched herself cry out silently to her friend, she watched him reach out to her then saw his face contort with pain as another arrow appeared in his shoulder and she watched as three men dressed in heavy plate came into view. One of the men carried a sword and shield while the other two carried bows, one of which was drawn and pulled back ready to release another arrow but the warrior simply raised his hand and the archer lowered his bow. She saw the warriors lips move wordlessly as he took a step in her direction.

“Are you alright? Did he harm you?”

Everything that happened after was a blur.

Talan snapped back into her body, snatched her carving knife from her belt and screamed as she flung it towards the archer who had shot Tavin. The knife planted itself firmly in his shoulder and he cried out as he stumbled backwards from the force of it. She reached for another small knife on her belt and flicked that one in the direction of the other archer, watched it fly by his ear as he leaned out of the way then saw him draw back his bow with the arrow pointed in her direction.

Talan stared at the sun glinting off of the head of the arrow as it flew towards her, she found it funny that the sun could even make this look beautiful and she felt sad that the last thing she saw the sun touch would be the thing that killed her. She shut her eyes and blew out her last breath as she heard the sound of the arrow hitting its mark.

But it didn’t hit her.

She opened her eyes to see two large black dots outlined in deep sea blue. Tavin had leapt up in front of her and shielded her from the arrow that was now firmly planted in his upper back and peeking out through his chest. He teetered when he wearily reached out to her and just barely brushed his fingers along her jaw. Tavin held her gaze for a moment, his eyes were glossy and she could see her own reflected in his so wide with shock and filled to the brim with fear. The moment felt like forever, but forever wasn't long enough, and he disappeared from her sight once again falling to the floor of the valley landing face down in the earth for the last time.

So many emotions welled up inside of Talan but she didn’t know what to feel, she wasn’t even sure if she was supposed to be afraid when she heard the unmistakeable sound of a bowstring being pulled back.

“STOP!” Her eyes snapped upward and she saw that the warrior had raised his hand towards the archer, halting him from letting another arrow loose. “I’m sorry ma’am; we only attacked because we assumed the apostate had intended to harm you.”

_Apostate._ Hearing the word made her blood turn to ice and her stomach churn.

Her eyes flicked wildly between the three men, she knew what they were and what they had thought he was, her eyes dropped to Tavin’s lifeless body face down in the grass, but she knew that he wasn’t.

“Ma’am? Are you alright?”

It should have been her. She should have been the one face down in the dirt because she had insisted on having the staff.

“Ma’am?”

It was all her fault. They wouldn’t have been here if she hadn’t started making the stupid staff. She didn’t even know why she made it, deep down she had known it was a bad idea when her knife had first bitten into the branch.

“Ma’am.”

Why did Tavin have to follow her today? Why couldn’t he have just let her be for _one_ day? Why him?

Because he loved her.

And he watched over her.

He _always_ had.

Why did it have to be _him?_

“Ma’am!”

Talan felt a firm grip on her arm momentarily then it was gone accompanied by a blood curdling scream. She turned to see one of the archers clutching his arm, now a brilliant frosty blue all the way up to his shoulder, with his face twisted in agony. Eyes wide she whipped around to face the other man just in time to catch a glimpse of the suns blinding light reflecting off of his shield before it made contact with her forehead and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :3


	4. Trapped

Her head was pounding.

Talan barely managed to open her eyes through the searing pain in her head to take in her surroundings. It was cold, dark, damp, and smelled horribly musky, she already hated it and she had no idea where she was. She raised a hand to tentatively touch the wound on her head and her other hand followed as it was shackled to the other, _wonderful_. She kept her hands raised to her forehead to cast a healing spell to soothe her aching head but when she called upon her magic it didn’t come. She lowered her hands and inspected the shackles that bound her wrists; they had strange markings etched into them that she figured were wards that inhibited her abilities. She groaned loudly and let her hands drop to her lap. Talan squinted in the dark trying to regain her sight only to have thick iron bars swim into her view. She was shackled and locked in a cell. Talan wracked her poor throbbing brain trying to recall how she had gotten here; she remembered carving a branch on the ledge in the forest, almost falling off the ledge, searching through the meadow with Tavin for her- oh, right.

Tavin was dead.

Tavin had been attacked by Templars when he was trying to explain to Talan that carrying around a staff was like announcing to the world that you’re a mage and practically demanding that a Templar drag you off to the circle. She had hated how right he was when he was telling her but she definitely hated it more now. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt hot tears burn a path down her cheeks, she bit down on her lip hard and tried to choke back a sob that desperately wanted to escape her lips.

She recalled the scene of him kneeling on the ground, two arrows sticking out of him with spots the colour of her deep red hair blooming around each one. How his face had changed so quickly from one twisted with pain to a blank expression when he observed himself like he hadn’t understood what was happening to him. Talan kicked herself when she thought about how she tried to fight back with her knives, aiming for the heads of the archers but missing her marks and only ending up somewhat injuring one of them. She had been trained better than that, she could hit any target dead on with her eyes closed, she should have hit both marks, and instead she was sloppy because she let her emotions get the better of her. Then she remembered his eyes, those brilliant sea blue eyes in front of her when he shielded her from arrow that surely would have killed her and that’s when she gave in.

Talan let go of all her emotions and let her tears fall as she openly wept, her sobs echoing off the cold stone walls of her cell. Not knowing what else to do Talan turned her back to the iron bars, laid on her side on the cold floor of her prison, curled up into a tight ball and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

 

Talan awoke abruptly to the sound of metal repeatedly crashing against more metal. The sound vibrated through her head, which was still pulsing with pain, making her groan loudly. She rolled over and now that there were a few torches lit along the walls she could clearly see the man from the valley who had hit her with his shield rapping his metal bracer against the bars of her cell.

“Wake up! The First Enchanter is her to collect some blood for your phylactery and he wants to ask you some questions.” Her eyes flicked to the man’s side where an elderly man in robes was standing, staring at her with an odd look in his eyes, concern maybe?

“Fenedhis.” Talan cursed under her breath. Right about now she was really wishing she had listened to her mother when she had told her to not use her magic at all and she was still really wishing she hadn’t made that stupid staff. Another rap of the Templars bracers against the bars caused Talan to jump and desperately try to cover her ears with her shackled hands. Creators her head was killing her.

“Get up! We don’t have all day to attend to apostates who defy the Chantry’s law!” The man sneered at her and she glowered at him as she struggled to sit up against the stone wall.

Talan quickly scanned her surroundings trying to figure out what to do but soon realized she had few options considering the fact that she had none of her equipment with her and there was absolutely nothing in the cell besides her. Someone had even gone as far as stripping her of her hunter garb and redressing her in a long beige tunic and brown leggings which thoroughly creeped her out. She was left with two options; One being a life trapped forever in a tower studying magic but never actually doing anything with it and having no life whatsoever and the other; lying her ass off and seeing where that gets her.

“I’m not an apostate.” She croaked. Her throat was so dry from all of the crying she had done that she winced from the pain when she spoke.

“Any mage living outside of the Circle is an apostate.” The man snapped. “Now stay back against the wall, I’m going to open your cell and you better not try anything.”

“I’m not- I’m” Talan’s voice cracked and she took a moment to clear her throat before continuing. “I’m not a mage.”

The Templar simply scoffed as he yanked open the door to her cell and stepped inside along with the man who she assumed was the First Enchanter. The loud screech of the iron bars caused Talan to cringe; she was in a tower full of mages, why hadn’t they sent someone to tend to her head wound yet?

The elderly man stepped around the Templar, knelt down in front of Talan and produced a small knife and a vial from a pouch hanging from the tie of his robes then extended a hand out to her, palm up.

“May I have one of your hands? I need to draw some of your blood for your phylactery then you will be able to join the other mages in the tower.” He spoke softly and gazed at her with a kind expression.

“I’m not a mage.” She repeated firmly. The Templar growled, stomped over to her and pulled her up roughly by her shackled hands making her cry out which only made him grip her tighter until she was forced to look at his face while he shouted.

“If you’re no mage then explain to me why one of my men has had to have his arm slowly thawed out by a group of mages for several hours after simply touching you!” He glared at her and Talan ripped her hands from his grasp.

“You attacked my friend and me, neither of us being mages, with no warning and the scenario that played out afterwards was hardly quiet, you must have alerted the other members of our clan and they attacked from a distance.” Talan kept a rigid posture and refused to break eye contact with the Templar attempting to maintain a confident stance and make her lies believable. “No one in our clan that is gifted with magic would have been foolish enough to attack a Templar unless they were well hidden.”

"So it was pure coincedence that his arm was frozen right when he touched you?" He snarled.

"Yes." Talan hissed.

“Why was your friend carrying a staff?” He snapped.

“I’m training to be the next craftsman in my clan; I was carving that staff as a gift for my keeper.” Talan sustained eye contact silently pleading to her gods that her words were convincing.

“Why was he waving it around?”

“We were just fooling around.” She sighed, her eyes dropped to the floor as she struggled to hold back the tears brimming in her eyes “We were just trying to have some fun.” Her voice trailed off to barely a whisper then she moved away from the Templar towards the corner of her cell and slumped down.

“If you truly are no mage,” The First Enchanter spoke to her now in a kind tone. “Would you allow us to draw some blood for a phylactery to prove it?” Talan stared at the knife and the vial he was holding trying to come up with some excuse not to let him but her head was still pounding making it hard to think. She then realized that she could offer him a completely honest response as to why she would refuse to give them what they wanted.

“No, I’m not one for pain.” She pointed to the throbbing wound on her head. “And I’m already in quite a bit thanks to you.” She glanced in the direction of the Templar and he started to move towards her but the First Enchanter placed a hand on his shoulder and he stilled.

“Greagoir, would you please send for one of the healers?”

“The majority of our healers have already been sent to Ostagar to aid King Cailan’s army against the Blight and the few we have here are still tending to the men that _she_ injured.” Greagoir practically spat in her direction when he mentioned her.

“Then please send whoever is available.” He responded calmly. “And see to it that they bring food and a wash basin with them.”

“Irving I refuse to leave you alone with this- this Elf _savage._ ” He gestured towards Talan. “We have no idea what she’s capable of.”

“I assure you Greagoir that I am completely capable of handling whatever may or may not come my way.” Irving stated firmly and with that Greagoir let out a disgruntled huff and mumbled to himself as he stomped out of the cell and disappeared up the stairs on the other side of the room. After he was sure Greagoir was gone Irving turned to her and spoke in a low voice.

“I had a feeling that he was making you uncomfortable especially after your encounter in the forest. I will not take your blood by force for a phylactery to find out if you are indeed a mage or not,” Irving had knelt down in front of her again and placed a hand gently over one of hers. “I only ask that now that we are alone you answer me honestly and know that I will do everything in my power to protect you regardless of your answer.” He squeezed her hand gently and asked. “Now my child, tell me, are you a mage?” Talan straightened her back against the wall and locked her eyes with Irving’s.

“I’m not a mage.” It was beginning to sound like a mantra to her now; the more she repeated it the more she believed it herself. She waited as Irving’s old grey eyes searched hers for any indication that she was lying and she assumed that he believed her when he nodded and rose to his feet making his way towards the door. He paused in the doorway and turned to her.

“I’m going to suggest to Knight-Commander Greagoir that he release you and return you to your clan, unfortunately that is all I can do and the final decision is up to him. My worry is that he will keep you here out of fear but I swear to you that you will not come to harm while you are here.”

“Ma serranas First Enchanter.” With that he shut the door to her cell and vanished in the same direction Greagoir had while Talan returned to her fetal position on the floor and willed her body to sleep once more.

* * *

 

The next time Talan opened her eyes it was to stare into a pair of bright blue eyes. She felt her heart soar with relief for a moment only to have it sink right back down like a rock when she realized the eyes didn’t belong to who she thought they belonged too, they were more lightly coloured and much too small.

“Try not to move.” The female voice that belonged to the pair of eyes said. “Your wound has been left untreated for so long I doubt I’ll be able to heal it without leaving a scar behind but if you keep still it shouldn’t look too horrible.” Talan did her best not to scoff at that remark, she could have easily healed her wound without leaving behind a scar had her hands not been bound in iron and her abilities not been suppressed by wards. She wondered how great the circle actually was if the mages here couldn’t even heal a small gash without leaving behind a scar.

Doing her best to keep her head still, Talan’s eyes quickly swept the room. There were three people in her cell; the female mage with ice blue eyes and hair as dark as ink tending to her head wound, a male mage with dark shoulder length hair shifting nervously by the door and standing beside him a girl with short red hair dressed in chantry robes holding a small wash basin. She stared at the two humans standing by the door and wondered why they looked so nervous and uncomfortable. She assumed Irving or Greagoir had sent them down here so what did they have to be worried about? Were they afraid of her?

“I said keep still!” The female mage jerked her head back into its previous position. “Andraste’s flaming tits you’d think with such big ears you wouldn’t have a problem with listening.” Talan’s fingers twitched at the comment, reaching up to cover her ears had become a knee-jerk reaction whenever people mentioned them but her bound hands restrained her from doing it.

“Solona!” She heard the girl in the chantry robes gasp.

“What? It’s not like I called her a knife ear or anything, I just said they were big.” Solona snapped. “Maker, Lily you get your knickers in a twist about everything!” She turned her attention to the man at the door. “Honestly Jowan I don’t know how you stand it.” Jowan remained silent and only glared intensely at the back of Solona’s head as she continued to mend Talan’s wound.

Lily offered Talan an apologetic look that she hoped was meant to say something like, “Sorry she’s such a bitch.” As amusing as that would be she figured someone dressed in chantry robes would never speak profanities and settled for “sorry” even though Talan knew just by looking at her how Lily _really_ felt about Solona.

“Well, you moved so there’s a scar but I’m done now.” Solona said sounding annoyed as she quickly rose to her feet and off to the side to allow Lily to take her place by Talan’s side with the wash basin. Talan shifted to sit up with her back against the wall and Lily passed her a small hand mirror then began to soak some small scraps of cloth in the water.

Talan peered at her reflection in the tiny mirror, just like Solona had said; there was a small crescent moon shaped scar running along her hairline that she was sure was a perfect match to the curve of Greagoir’s shield. She glanced at the rest of her face for a moment; it was smeared with dirt and blood except for the few distinct lines running down her face that had been washed clean from her tears. Her glowing yellow-green irises were set against a bright red canvas wrapped in puffy flesh. She had always kind of hated how Elves had a strange glow to their eyes when it was dark, just another thing that made her different, but now looking at herself in the mirror she realized it gave a sort of strong and alluring intensity to her features and she liked it. She felt like she was staring at a whole new person in the mirror, and that’s what she needed to be.

Talan allowed Lily to wash the grime off of her face since her hands were still shackled together; it was hard enough for her to hold a tiny hand mirror so she doubted she would have been able to thoroughly run the cloth over her face. She listened to Solona and Jowan yammer on about something unimportant and watched the water in the wash basin slowly turn a murky brown colour whenever Lily wrung out the cloth she was using on Talan. Talan turned her attention to Lily after a few minutes and noticed she still looked just as uncomfortable as she did when Talan had woken up to find them all here.

“Are you alright?” Talan felt all the eyes in the room turn on her as she spoke for the first time in front of them but she kept her gaze locked with Lily’s.

“I Uhm- I’m fine?” She glanced around the cell nervously until her eyes landed on Jowan with a pleading look. Jowan sighed deeply and stepped further into Talan’s prison to stand close to Lily.

“Solona there’s a reason we came down here with you.” He confessed.

“Obviously, to help me get her all cleaned up.” Solona gestured vaguely in Talan’s direction then crossed her arms over her chest and settled her back against the bars of the cell. “But now I’m assuming you want something, yes?” She said smugly.

“Yes, we-” Jowan started to say only to have Lily tug on his sleeve and nod her head in Talan’s direction then Talan once again felt all of the eyes in the room upon her.

“I have no reason or desire to repeat anything that any of you say while you’re in here.” Talan turned and stared at Lily hoping that she would hear the sincerity in her words and see it in her eyes. “All I want is to get out of here. I don’t plan on doing anything that would harm someone or get them into trouble and risk me staying here any longer than I have to.” Lily held Talan’s gaze a moment longer then turned to Jowan and gestured for him to continue.

“Lily and I want to get married.” He turned and looked into her eyes lovingly. “We’re in love and we want to get married.” He raised a hand to cup her cheek and Lily leaned into his touch, they stood there staring into each other’s eyes with so much love, lost in their own little world until Solona’s sharp voice interrupted them.

“But you can’t.” Solona’s words snapped the couple out of their trance and back into reality.

“Yes, we’re aware of that.” Jowan trailed off and stared at his feet; he took a deep breath and held himself up confidently as he continued. “That’s why we are going to break into the room where they store the phylacteries and destroy mine so Lily and I can escape.”

Solona’s mouth formed into a small o then twisted into an amused grin. “You guys are joking right?” She stared at the two as if waiting for them to confirm her query, when they didn’t she burst into laughter. “You guys really think that _you_ can pull off something like that?”

Lily and Jowan shifted uncomfortably while Solona basically howled with laughter. Talan had only known Solona for mere minutes, and normally wouldn’t form an opinion on someone so soon, but she completely hated this woman. She had absolutely no regard for people’s feelings and was ~~just flat out rude~~ a total bitch.

“Solona we’re serious, we want to do this and we can’t do it without you.” Lily looked at Solona with pleading eyes.

“And what made you think that I would help you?” Solona pushed off the bars and sauntered over to Jowan and Lily then circled around them looking much like a predator closing in on its prey. “What made you think I wouldn’t go running off to Tell Irving?” Her voice sounded like venom and her expression looked positively wicked. “Or the Knight-Commander? I wonder how you would hold up in Aeonar.” Solona directed the last part towards Lily and Talan swore she could actually see Lily trembling at Solona’s words.

“Please Solona.” Jowan was practically on his knees begging. “You of all people should know how hard it is to be in a relationship that is forbidden!”

Solona regarded him coolly “I don’t call _that_ a relationship, I call it fun.” 

“Does _he_ know that?” Jowan challenged and Talan's heart ached for whoever the poor soul was that Solona had wrapped around her finger. 

The mages stared each other down for what seemed like ages then Solona finally broke letting out a huge groan and stalking back to her previous position by the bars. “Fine, I’ll help.”

Talan listened to the humans put together their master escape plan and began to wonder how hard it would be for her to plan an escape of her own. According to Jowan guard patrols and foot traffic in the halls were almost non-existent since most of the mages and Templars had gone to prepare for the battle at Ostagar and the Grand Enchanter and Knight-Commander were distracted by the arrival of a Grey Warden that Irving knew. All Talan really needed was something to pick the locks on her cuffs and her cell door so she could leave the dungeon and then she was positive that she would be able to simply slip out of the tower unnoticed.

When their discussion concluded Jowan and Solona exited the cell and made their way up the winding staircase at the opposite end of the room while Lily lingered behind to gather up the used cloths and the wash basin. She set them down outside the cell and picked up a small sack sitting by the door that Talan hadn’t noticed.

“There’s a change of clothes in here and some bread and an apple.” Lily set the bag down next to Talan. “Irving mentioned that someone should be down soon to take the shackles off.”

“Ma serranas Lily.” She gave Lily a small smile and watched her head towards the door. “Oh, and tell Solona thank-you as well for this.” Talan pointed to her forehead. “I imagine no one would hear the end of it if I wasn’t grateful of her _lovely_ hospitality.” Lily snorted loudly making Talan’s grin grow wider then she turned the key in the door of the cell and quickly disappeared up the stairs.

As soon as she was alone Talan clumsily attempted to open the sack Lily left behind, she couldn’t wait to have these stupid cuffs off. When she finally got it open she spied the food Lily had mentioned, and realizing how famished she was, she wolfed them down in mere seconds. She left the fresh clothes in the bag and positioned it under her head as she settled back into her sleeping position, someone would be coming to take her shackles off soon so she wouldn’t bother struggling to get undressed then redressed until her hands were free. Talan could feel her excitement rising when she thought about it; with her hands free it would make her escape that much easier and she might even be able to lift the key to her cell off the person who comes down to unbind her hands.

Talan smiled to herself as she shifted on the floor to get comfortable, she would be back with her clan soon. Talan didn’t really know what she would do when she got back to her clan, and she sure never thought she’d have this much desire to return to a clan where the majority of its members hated her, but she was certain that whatever happened it would be better than staying here. All Talan had to do now was wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone's making an appearance in the next chapter :]
> 
> Thanks for reading : )


	5. Update

Not a chapter just an update, I'll be replacing this with an actual chapter soon.

I had almost three chapters finished that I was going to post all at once and then my laptop died and I lost everything -_-

BUT I have a new computer now and I'm working quickly to re-type them out as fast as I can and I'm hoping to have at least two re-typed this week if not all three.

Thanks to anyone who's been reading, I promise I'll be updating more frequently :)


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